Our Library Without Walls added downloadable audiobooks last year. This year, we expanded the collection to include the entire catalogs of a couple major publishers of audio Christian titles. However, when we add collections like this, rather than individual titles, we frequently get many more things as well included in the cost. So, we now have an incredibly robust audio collection of academic and popular non-fiction for both adults and children.

However, I have a confession to make, as a lover of pleasure reading. That collection has several thousand “fun” books as well. Almost everything that Recorded Books, their subsidiaries and a subset of the publishing partners owns is now available. This includes a ton of fiction. And summer break is starting. My reading list (listening list) just exploded.

What’s on it, you ask? After all, you can learn a huge amount about a person by looking at their personal reading lists! It’s weighted heavily in science fiction and fantasy of course. Old favorite authors like Ursula K. Le Guin, Lian Hearn, Anne McCaffrey and Marion Zimmer Bradley are vying with new authors I’ve been meaning to read, like Deborah Harkness, Chang-Rae Lee, and Nnedi Okorafor. But also, there are some really good mysteries on there, from Rita Mae Brown, Jasper Fforde and John Mortimer to people I’ve been wanting to read, like the Medieval Murderers, Alexander McCall Smith, C. S. Harris, and Christopher Fowler. There are also good classic authors, of course, like Tolkien, Austen, Verne, Twain, and many more, and a some great literary and historical fiction as well, like Sharon Kay Penman, Hilary Mantel, Edwidge Danticat and Teju Cole.

This summer, I’m going to work my way through my list. Look for my blog news posts called “What I’m Reading” and join the conversation on Facebook when I ask “What Are You Reading?” Also, check the audiobook catalog for reading lists – everything from children’s books to literary classics. My Summer Reading list is up now, with the first titles of series, only — it’s ambitious, but I am going to try! I’ll add other lists as the summer progresses, though, check back to it frequently.

Happy Reading!!